


A New Horizon

by the10amongstthese3s



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: ...but Jane is her mama figure lets be real, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, One Shot, anne is a mama don't you forget it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:08:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23536549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the10amongstthese3s/pseuds/the10amongstthese3s
Summary: When the queens are instructed to tour a Tudor art exhibit for a well-known theatre blog, Anne stumbles upon portraits of a familiar face.
Comments: 20
Kudos: 169





	A New Horizon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The_Queen_of_the_Books](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Queen_of_the_Books/gifts).



It wasn’t the queens’ decision to go to the art exhibit. In fact, the six women hated the idea of seeing their old portraits. They dreaded whatever memories may be stirred up by the distantly familiar oil paintings. Still though, they were informed how important it was for the show that they attend the exhibit and film some clips for some supposed high-profile theatre blog that none of them had ever actually heard of.

_Great._

Their main worry had been how Katherine Howard would react to any portraits of Henry. They knew the poor girl was probably going to have a panic attack the second she spotted that familiar ginger beard. Surprisingly though, Kit managed to hold herself together relatively well, doing her best to appear as smiley and positive as possible on camera.

That being said, Jane didn’t fail to notice how the teenager broke character and clung to her arm the second the cameras stopped rolling. Not long now. Soon they could go home and have that stressful day over with.

Aragon had the most stories to tell of course after her 24 year reign, so the woman took the spotlight and ran with it, making a few jokes and euphemisms along the way. She knew what this audience wanted, even poking some fun at Anne.

Of course, Anne was a fan favourite. The more screen time the cheeky second queen got, the better the blog post would do. That much was certain.

It was whilst Cleves was telling some anecdote that Anne finally escaped, growing far too overwhelmed with all that was going on. She hated remembering her past life. Talking about it just made the pain a thousand times worse. But, of course, the public always got what they wanted. She knew that all too well.

Losing track of time, Anne found herself wandering aimlessly through the museum, not really looking at anything. She didn’t even register that she’d entered any particular exhibit until she noticed the red velvet ropes guarding one huge framed portrait in the centre of the room.

A portrait of a rather stern-looking redheaded woman.

Some queen, she supposed.

Looking closer though, Anne felt her heartbeat freeze entirely. She knew those eyes. She knew them all too well.

Growing frantic, Anne rushed to another painting. The same woman stared back at her. She was slightly older here, wearing a glorious gown accented by the most luxurious of jewels. Still though, those same gorgeous hazel eyes seemed to meet Anne’s, filling her with an emotion she’d never quite felt.

Like a mixture of grief, panic, and complete shock.

Whatever it was, Anne didn’t like it.

Truthfully, Anne had always refused to do any research on what happened after her death. Of course she wanted to know what her baby looked like. She wanted more than anything to see how she turned out, but the guilt of knowing she never got to see the girl grow to that age was so overwhelming that she could never bring herself to look.

Elizabeth must’ve grown to be much older than her, judging by the years marked on the paintings. In fact, she must have been around twice her age, if not more. 

The melancholic feeling that hit Anne alongside that knowledge almost broke her. On one hand, she was so grateful knowing that her baby had such a long, prosperous life. On the other though, the aching in her chest only grew at the thought of all she missed. 

Tears were streaming down her face now but still, Anne did her best to keep her composure. 

It wasn’t until she spotted one portrait in particular that the woman felt her breath hitch. Finally, the floodgates opened, sending her tears gushing to the ground. Her knees may have collapsed if not for the hand on her shoulder, somehow keeping her grounded.

“She always was a mama’s girl,” a familiar voice hummed.

Jane.

Spinning around, Anne threw herself into the older woman’s arms, clinging desperately to her as she sobbed.

There was nothing wrong with the portrait. In fact, it was adorable! Elizabeth was only young in it - probably early teens - just a sweet little princess, not yet burdened by the stress of running a country. Something stood out to Anne, though. Something completely unexpected.

Elizabeth was wearing Anne’s necklace. 

She’d heard Parr make comments about Elizabeth being a troublemaker like her in the past, but she could never imagine her doing something as dangerous as paying tribute to her disgraced mother right under her father’s nose. Henry would never have allowed something so scandalous! Still though, there it was. Right in front of her.

That little ‘A’ pendant proved something Anne had needed to hear for far too long. Her baby loved her. No matter how much she cursed herself for leaving, Elizabeth loved her.

Anne had never been so proud or so heartbroken as she was at that moment. A strange sense of closure swept over her as she broke down in Jane’s arms. Closure she’d waited so long to feel.

That night, Anne laid in bed beside Kit, smiling at her phone. Kit and Cleves had teased her about who she was texting earlier, but the girl had just thrown a cushion at them, not giving an answer. The truth is, she wasn’t texting anyone. In fact, she wasn’t on any app at all. No, Anne was simply admiring her home screen.

A beautiful portrait of a fiery-haired girl she once knew.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, ducklings! 💚 This was inspired by a request from @the_queen_of_the_books! I really wanted to write something about the portrait of Elizabeth wearing Anne's necklace anyway so when I saw that request I knew I had to write it! Sorry it took so long (and that it's slightly shorter than usual), my love. I hope this was okay 😊🦆


End file.
